Confessions from the Child of a Single Parent

The separation of someone's parents is never, ever something you should wish upon someone else's family. If you have been through it/ are experiencing it as we speak, as I am,  you know what I mean. It isn't just your parents going through the separation, the whole family goes through it as well. From the first day one of your parents moves out, nothing will ever be the same. Even if somewhere in the future your parents get back together, it will never be the same. I am struggling greatly with the separation of my parents. As I've briefly stated in a previous post, I chose to and am still living with my father. I love my father, I've always been a "Daddy's Girl." But with that said, every girl needs a Mom, her mom. Let me tell you... you think going on a first date is awkward, wait until you have to ask your dad to buy you Tampons. That...is awkward. I love both of my parents very much. Sometimes I feel like they don't realize that I do love them both equally. Just because I picked to live with my dad, doesn't mean that I don't love my mom. A lot of toes get stepped on during separation of a set of parents. My mom is like me in the fact that if someone steps on my toes, three weeks later that person is still standing on my toes. Mis-communication is often a big issue with separation/divorce. Communicating via Tex Message has been a huge issue in my particular situation mainly because texts can be misunderstood a great deal. Text messages also can be taken in vastly wrong ways. Not adding a smiley face of exclamation point can cause the receiver to believe the sender is mad at them. The past few months, I can say if it wasn't for my boy friend... I would've chucked my phone into High Rock Lake. It is basically ridiculous how many arguments can arise just by misunderstanding a flippin' text message! I should quickly add in that I'm not blogging about this topic to receive attention/sympathy.. I'm blogging about this because several of my friends have divorced or separated parents. As I experience new changes every day, I want to be able to take advice from my friends with divorced parents, add it with my experiences, and then be able to help others through difficult times that they may be facing... or that they may face in the future. One of my main philosophies is "Honesty is the Best Policy."  This means that up front you should just be honest. It is better to tell your parent(s) how you feel about the situation your going through. If you express your emotions, I'm pretty sure they will try to make you feel better and continue to feel better about the issue(s) that had upset you. Keeping things bottled up just builds tension and causes emotions to run high. Your parents do care how you feel, so be honest and open. The worst thing you can do during the time of your parents separation is to not talk about how you are feeling. Your parents need to know. If you find yourself unable to confide in your parents, really consider going to a trusted teacher. They aren't going to tell anyone! They have a totally unbiased yet professional attitude towards your situation, so they can be a help. I don't know what I would've done the past two months without my Teen Living teacher. She has been very understanding, compassionate, and helpful. Not only is this a hard time for you, this is a very emotional and stressful time for my parents. The last thing on my To-Do list is to be rebellious and difficult. My parents have enough to deal with without the bad attitude and sass coming from a fourteen year old. Save yourself some "Slamming doors-pissed at the world" time, and try to get along with your parents. Try to be understanding and try to be as helpful as possible. The number one thing to remember, is tell your parents you love them. Chances are they won't get as many 'I love you's' as they need during a time like this... so tell them you love them and that you appreciate what they do very often. Nothing warms a parents heart more than hugs, thank yous and I love yous. PS: When all else fails, pray.♥ God will always be there!
If any of my readers ever feel the need to talk about any thing going on in their life, my email address is on my 'About Me' tab, which is located at the top of my blog page. I am an exceptional listener, and can always select the right advice for any given situation. Maybe I should be a youth counselor? (: